"Bagpipe"subcritical nuclear weapons test protest

Sept 8th

NEVADA SWEETHEARTS CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY LOCKED DOWN
ABOVE FEDERAL BUILDING ENTRANCE, REFUSING TO LEAVE
UNTIL PLANNED SUBCRITICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTS ARE CANCELED!!

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(Las Vegas - SN) Two Nevada activists with Shundahai Network, an international anti-nuclear and indigenous support organization, are celebrating their first year anniversary on top of an entrance overhang at the Foley Federal building on 300 S. Las Vegas Blvd. The local sweethearts climbed the building at 8:45 am, hung two huge banners off the side and then locked themselves together using a metal pipe. The couple have refused to leave until the planned upcoming subcritical nuclear weapons tests are canceled.

This nonviolent direct action is the first in a series of planned protests to stop the subcritical nuclear weapons test, code named "Bagpipe", planned to be exploded at the Nevada Test Site during September. "Bagpipe" is being prepared by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories based in California. The Livermore facility producing the plutonium for this explosion was shut down several months ago for many safety violations and radioactive contamination.

"We are saying to the U.S. government 'Don't be Hypocritical, Stop the subcritical!'," said Susi Snyder before climbing the Federal building. " The ongoing U.S. nuclear weapons testing and development program is in direct violation of the International Court of Justice that found in 1996, the preparation for nuclear war is basically preparation for genocide and is a crime against humanity. Our state legislators claim to be working to keep nuclear waste out of Nevada, yet deadly radioactive waste could contaminate our future water supply with each one of these tests."

These tests especially contradict the condemnation expressed by the U.S. government against India and Pakistan for conducting their own series of nuclear weapons tests earlier this year. These tests are a green light for nations around the world to continue their own nuclear weapons testing programs, poisoning the land, air and water of the entire planet.

"Despite signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996, the U.S. has continued to explode weapons grade plutonium below the ground on Sacred Western Shoshone land and dangerously close to Nevada's underground water source, " said Reinard Knutsen, the other locked down sweetheart. "If we really want to build a bridge to the 21st Century that our children will be proud of, we need to stop producing nuclear weapons and begin immediate negotiations on complete disarmament."

The subcritical tests are part of a massive "Stockpile Stewardship and Management" program, intended to maintain and expand U.S. nuclear weapons capabilities well into the next century. During the next decade, taxpayers will spend more than $40 billion for the program, an annual rate higher than the Cold War average. Thus, it is fair to say these tests are intended to signal to the rest of the world an unflagging U.S. commitment to nuclear weapons as the ultimate "big stick."

The locked down sweeties are demanding: